Why not to attend college | Hacker News Reader

Why not to attend college

rs.io

4 pointslettergram8 comments

I have in the past displayed a similar mix of determination and stubbornness, and sometimes still do. I can totally understand the disillusion felt caused by having to study things which may have no relevance to your future career in order to jump through the necessary hoops.

However it is important to not go beyond the point of no return in your railing against those around you who are trying to change your opinion. While they may not seem particularly helpful at the moment there are things you can still learn from them, and at times, you will need them. Don't burn your bridges with your friends and family, and don't fall into the trap of equating all education as pointless... there is much more to it besides the concrete things you learn, in many ways it doesn't matter what you learn - there are a handful of experiences amongst college / university life which help you to grow and mature. But at times in my life I'd never have believed that if you'd have told me. I thought I was mature, which in many ways I probably was, but I also had too much conviction in my own opinions which is definitely a sign of immaturity.

Being passionate is good, make sure you don't lose it but learn to control it too.

I hope he at least argued that he should be able to challenge those prereqs. Colleges sometimes don't allow it, but it'd be worth a shot.

Or befriend the math instructors to get them on your side, and then use that ammo to get the Dean on your side.

College administration is a system, and needs to be played like the system that it is. And it's a surprisingly tough game to play when you're first starting out.

I find curious the fact that he thinks that Physics and Calculus "have anything to do with Computer Science". Prerequisites are there for a reason.

I think you missed a "don't" that would be required before the quote.

Many people actually think programming and math are unrelated. I try to explain that logic matters, and the more logic you learn, the better off you are...

But the truth is, many things can be coded these days without a lot of logic and thought. Most of the hard work (the infrastructure) is provided for you, and even some non-trivial apps can be written these days just by plugging away at it until it works.

The real meat of programming, the stuff I enjoy, takes a lot of logic, math, and creativity. Sometimes all at once. Those are the best times.

Seems like a really bright, headstrong kid who is about to further cripple the already rough start of his potentially promising academic career.

And it's gone... 404.

Google cache: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:MRYAvjI...

Wow, there's a lot of ego in that post.

Calculus II is not relevant to computer science?

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